# How much did a cigar cost in 1937?



## kansashat (Mar 13, 2004)

My Dad smoked his last cigar in 1937 at the age of around 20. He had a part in a play & a prop was a cigar. As he nervously paced backstage, he puffed & chewed the cigar furiously. By the end of his appearance in the play, he was sick as a dog & had to practically knock people down to get to the alley door to blow chunks. A wise lady stuck a piece of cake in his mouth upon his return (she had to have known that sugar is an antedote for nicotine poisoning). He now gets mildly ill (at age 92) just thinking about smoking a cigar.

The cigar was probably machine made somewhere in the USA with Cuban & Pennsylvanian or Connecticut tobaccos. It probably cost a nickel, or a dime. 

A few years back, I was showing him some cigars in my caddy. I picked up a closeout I'd gotten cheap & said, "I paid 60 cents for this one," proudly displaying my buying thriftiness.

"YOU PAID 60 CENTS FOR A CIGAR?!?!" he said, & looked at me like I had spent the bread & milk money on heroin.

I don't talk to my Dad about cigars any more. LOL


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## thebayratt (Jun 4, 2009)

Either 5cents








or 2 for 5 cents









I got these pics from the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola FL. There is a mock-up town from the 30s or 40s or 50s.......... but these were in there... the cigars in the box looked super old and dry though!!


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## Acesfull (Dec 9, 2007)

I have an old box from the 1930s-1940s not sure called Spanish Crooks, they were handmade cigars from PA.. the box said they were $.5 each...

Thats a cool story though thanks for sharing


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

When I started smoking cigars in 1969 they were about 50 cents for a handrolled one. The store bought ones like Dutch Masters and Garcia y Vega were around $2 for a 5 pak. If you were a "high roller" who smoked imported cigars they went for about $2 each but they were some great cigars, too. I talked to my grandfather and in the 30's during the Depression cigars were a sign of excess money and it wasn't uncommon for others to walk by and pick up a cigar from the ground when it appeared to be barely smoked.


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## Phantom57 (Jan 15, 2009)

Probably 5¢ or 10¢, but could have been a bit more. Many of the cigars in that time had Cuban tobacco in them. The US was the largest importer of Cuban "floor sweepings" up until the embargo and many domestic cigars were made of some or all Cuban tobacco.


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## Slowpokebill (Nov 29, 2008)

I don't know about the 30s but when I started smoking cigars in the late 1970s a good cigar was $1 to $2. Very few hit the $5 mark. It was kind of like that until about 1990. Then prices soared and I would say overall quality dropped. I do look back fondly on the 1980s.


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## Slaterstogies (Sep 23, 2009)

ha imagine you told him how much some people pay for a opus x box! thanks for the story
eric


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## salmonfly (Nov 11, 2009)

*Show this thread to your dad, I am sure he will either leave you alone next time or have you committed:crash:*

*$750 Gurkha Cigar-Discusstion*
Came across this link and had to keep rubbing my eyes. Now I have smoked some exotic and expensive cigars in my day but this one is out of my league. Without "dogging" the obvious maker of this brand what exactly constitutes the pricing of a cigar like this? Cognac can be expensive as we're all aware but c'mon man,,,at $750 each and $15K for a box?

Would like to hear some opinions that make sense.


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## Nurse_Maduro (Oct 23, 2008)

salmonfly said:


> *Show this thread to your dad, I am sure he will either leave you alone next time or have you committed:crash:*


LMAO! That's _exactly_ what I was going to post!!!

Great story!! Thanks a lot for posting.


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## APRILH (Nov 10, 2019)

I came across an old cigar box and the only markings on the box were on the bottom! 
Factory No..50
1st.Dist. Pa
Also the manufacturer label saying they’ve met the requirements 
and a stamp saying manufactured to retail at more then 8 cents 
and not more then 15 cents! 
Can you tell me anything?


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## jmt8706 (Jul 19, 2019)

APRILH said:


> I came across an old cigar box and the only markings on the box were on the bottom!
> Factory No..50
> 1st.Dist. Pa
> Also the manufacturer label saying they've met the requirements
> ...


uh...pics?


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## Scap (Nov 27, 2012)

APRILH said:


> Can you tell me anything?


Yes.
A cat can give birth to kittens in the oven.
But that don't make them biscuits.


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## Olecharlie (Oct 28, 2017)

jmt8706 said:


> uh...pics?


Since this thread is 10 years old I really doubt you will get pics lol.


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## zcziggy (Apr 11, 2019)

Olecharlie said:


> Since this thread is 10 years old I really doubt you will get pics lol.


polaroids?


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## Olecharlie (Oct 28, 2017)

zcziggy said:


> polaroids?


lmbo


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## the camaro show (Nov 21, 2018)

Maybe you’ll get lucky and get a pic from a flip phone that MAYBE had a camera on it lol.


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